Tales of the Inquisitor
by NorWal
Summary: Drabbles and whatnot documenting the various travels of the Qunari Inquisitor and her various companions. Will probably mention the Warden/Hawke siblings at some point or another.
1. Saarebas

_Saarebas_. The word alone left a bitter taste in her mouth. It was a word of enslavement and mistrust. There was no true honor for her kind, the word had imprisoned her within her own body, taken her horns and placed the collar around her throat. It had stripped her of whatever honor that could be found following the Qun. One did not honor another by caging them for simply being. Even as Qunari she'd felt contempt for the term, as she sat leashed with her brothers and sisters she was not content. This was not the role she was meant for, this was a farce; but the Qun demanded it, and she'd obeyed.

Where Karataam went, they followed; where they were needed they went. Whatever Arishok demanded they did obediently; until they didn't. She remembered it clearly; they had been allowed freedom from the Karataam to travel as an individual unit, the reason behind it was unknown to her, even now. They were on a ship bound for a port of no significance. Arvaarad had seemed… different. Changed in a way that was beyond comprehension; he was restless and aggravated. He had appeared suddenly in the cellar of the ship and loosened her bindings, allowing her arms their freedom.

"When we reach land we shall be Tal-Vashoth." She'd watched him turn and walk back up the stairs and allowed a wry smile to stretch her sewn mouth; so this is how it would be. There was little honor for Tal-Vashoth, but it allowed more freedom then Qunari; she would be called something other than that foul word that had spewed from every mouth referring to her. They'd reached the mainland within the week and wandered far from the city, walking in the same direction until Arvaarad simply stopped. Without turning he'd taken the damnable device that had been used to bind her and her powers and held it in both hands, smashing it over his knee. The painful surge of energy was overwhelming and lasted several long seconds before the light surrounding her body dissipated, leaving her breathless on her hands and knees. She choked as she tried to take in deep breaths and felt herself fall on her side, groping for purchase that didn't exist. Arvaarad simply stared down at her, the pity in his eyes apparent. "Panahedan Saarebas." His back was the last thing she saw as everything faded to black.

By the time she came to the suns light had already gone. She coughed and winced at the pain in her chest; her entire body felt heavy. She took several deep breaths before heaving herself to her feet and taking a couple shaky steps forward. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness and she looked around the realization hit her that she was alone. For the first time in many years there was no one to watch her, no one to constantly regard her with eyes full of suspicion and pity. She was finally, truly free; from the Qun, from Arvaarad, from the device that had been the bane of her existence for so long. Another smile split her face then, the thick string holding her lips together becoming tauter than before. With a sigh that was both content and excited she lowered herself back to the ground and began the task of removing the mask and strings that had leashed her for so many years; of the objects that had previously bound her, she kept only the thick pieces of fabric that had secured the mask to the stumps of her horns, wrapping them around her wrists. They would serve a purpose, as a reminder to her of what she had been and a warning to whatever enemies she would inevitably face of the danger that she truly was.  
>-<p>

"Now there's a sight!" Silver eyes traveled towards the source of the voice, to the stubby dwarf sitting across from her with his wide smirk and arms outstretched towards her as if he were expecting a hug. The smirk widened. "The mighty Inquisitor cracks a smile and I'm the only one here who can really appreciate it. This is truly a momentous occasion." He dipped his pen in the inkwell sitting on the table and looked at her expectantly. "What's that name of yours mean again?"

"Dangerous Illusion. Saarehissra." She watched as he scratched words into parchment quickly, a white eyebrow rising in mild curiosity. He made a noise in his throat, it sounded vaguely like a sound of amusement.

"My, that's quite poetic. I didn't think the Qun had any rules about poetry and the arts in it."

"It doesn't. You know for a dwarf who spins tales of great adventures and romances you know very little." She leaned forward, placing her elbows on the table and intertwined her fingers as she spoke. He let out a slight chuckle as he dipped his pen once more and continued. She frowned, leaning further to try and catch a look at the parchment in front of him. "What exactly are you writing there Tethras?"

"Nothing of great importance Inquisitor." It was her turn to make a noise in her throat, the dwarf laughed. "I'm writing the tale behind the mighty Qunari Inquisitors illusive smile." He looked up just as her brows furrowed.

"What?"

"Oh yes, it's a fine tale indeed. The great and powerful Qunari mage Saarehissra singlehandedly takes on half a dozen Templars and tames a dragon in it. The smile's because you were reminiscing about setting the Templars on fire."

"Mmhm." She leaned back, crossing her arms over her chest, one eyebrow once again raised. "How did I find time to tame the dragon?"

"Oh you did, I just haven't fit the scene in yet. I'll let you read it when I'm done. You know, to get your blessing."

"You're a ridiculous little man." She said, smirking at him. The tone of her voice was so matter-of-fact he almost believed it. The scars around her mouth stretched with the movement; smiles were a rare thing indeed for the mage. He let out a chuckle as he resumed his writing.

"I've been called worse."


	2. Foreigner

**Author's Note: A whole lot of reworking has been done since the first chapter regarding the Qunari protagonist of this series of drabbles thanks to lots of new info about the game (and in particular the PC characters). Thank you again to anyone still reading these (and especially for those leaving comments and favoriting), it means a lot to know someone other than myself is interested in all of this. :)  
>-<strong>

Saare'Hissra Adaar would always be a foreigner in the eyes of strangers. Despite all her knowledge of tomes and legends, despite the fact that she'd spent a vast majority of her 38 years on Thedas traveling from one end of the known world to the other, she would never be known as a Rivaini, or a Ferelden, or an Orleasian, but as a Qunari. A beast. Creature, monster, bullwoman, anything other than a person others could relate to. She'd accepted it early on, after she'd had enough growth spurts to not only tower over the children her age but also her human mentor, when her horns became too big to cover with a hood, when she'd mend the most recent tears in her too small clothes at night by the moonlight in a hidden camp. Granted, the acceptance hadn't come easy, but when people screamed at the sight of your shadow and shouted words like 'demon' you'd understand that accepting it saved you a lot of pain in the long run.

"People are fools, Hissra." Raskin had once said. The words had come unprompted, when the two were sitting by the fire in their most recent camp. The sudden noise had caused her to poke herself with the needle she'd been mending with. "They believe too readily that the world is black and white." He stared at her, firelight gleaming in his brown eyes as he puffed at the pipe between his teeth. "The most sinister of villains can be redeemed just as easily as the most noble of heroes can be forever tainted by sin."

"Oh… okay." She could only blink and look back down at the cloth in her hands, at the speck of blood that welled up on her finger. He sighed, rubbing his chin through his graying beard.

"I heard those rather loud women in the marketplace earlier. You're not the only one who notices how crowds part for us, you know." _That_ explained it. "Despite what others may believe, you're not a monster. People are fools for thinking so. Eventually, you'll meet people who truly understand that looks can be deceiving." He puffed at his pipe a few more times before shaking the spent tobacco from it and standing with a grunt. "Though I can't guarantee they'll be half as good looking as myself." He ruffled the hair between her horns with his usual rough affection as he limped awkwardly towards his tent. "Don't forget to put out the fire when you're done." She didn't finish mending the trousers she'd been working on that night, suddenly too busy mulling over what the old man had said. The important parts anyway.

Over a decade later she thought she'd finally found these illusive, accepting strangers when she joined the Valo-kas mercenary company. They had to accept her; they were Qunari, after all. But she was a mage, a _Saarebas_; a very real, very present danger in the eyes of her new comrades. Not only that, but she'd been raised and trained by a _human _of all things. In their eyes that made her even less welcome. She was a foreigner even among her own people. The word Saarebas was used so often behind her back that she added the important part to her name; Saare'Hissra. For 11 long years she was forced to tread the thin line separating fear and respect, a feat that she found she was rather good at; keeping her head down and following orders proved to be the perfect way to gain the respect of her commanders, even if it proved to be difficult through all the insults. And then she was finally rewarded with a job she was uniquely suited for; the Chantry Conclave.

It would've gone so well, if not for the explosion that sent her into the Fade. It had utterly destroyed everything and everyone at that meeting… except for her. There she was, lying on the ground, unable to breath and with an utterly excruciating pain in her left hand, feeling like the unluckiest person in all of Thedas. She wondered where it had all gone so wrong, how the Maker or the Creators or the Old Gods or _whoever_ could punish her like this. And then, just as suddenly as the damned explosion had destroyed her life, it gave her another.  
>-<p>

"Quizzy!" The door to the Inquisitor's office flew open with a great bang. Saare'Hissra's eyes shot open as she sat up rigidly, fists clenching around the papers scattered across her desk.

"I swear, I was just resting my eyes!" She shouted, hurriedly shifting the crumpled and torn papers in her hands from one side of the desk to the other. After a few seconds she looked up, shoulders sagging when she finally noticed the blonde elf who'd woken her up. "Oh, thank the Gods, it's just you." The smaller woman let out a bark of laughter as she sauntered over to the desk.

"Oh yeah, it's 'just me' alright." Sera replied, peeling a piece of parchment from the Qunari's face that she hadn't noticed. "Hah, Josie's gonna kill you." The Inquisitor groaned, rubbing her eyes.

"I know. I've been putting off all this damn paperwork for too long, if I don't finish it now… well, I really don't want to test Josephine's patience any harder then I already have."

"Yeah, yeah, that's great. You-" Sera jabbed a finger into the Qunari's nose. "Need to get down to the bar." Adaar stared at her blankly.

"You… did you not just hear what I said?"

"Don't care, you need to be in on this." Grabbing a fist full of collar, Sera began pulling the taller woman up. "Bull and Varric are betting that we can't out drink 'em."

"Sera-"

"Don't care, I'm not losing because you decided to put off your work." Sighing in mock defeat, the Inquisitor stood, stretched and followed the smaller woman out of the room with the faintest hint of a smile.

Saare'Hissra Adaar would always be a foreigner in the eyes of strangers, but at least she was right at home in the eyes of her friends.


End file.
